Kamikaze pilot zeroes in on the
escort carrier U.S.S. Sangamon dur
ing the Battle of Okinawa in World
War II. Riddled by a barrage from
the ship's guns, the bomb-laden Jap
anese plane narrowly misses the
deck before crashing into the sea.
A later suicide raid damaged the
Sangamon beyond repair.
The Kamikaze-"divine wind"
was a special attack group of the
Japanese Naval Air Forces; its chief
membership requirement was a will
ingness to die for the emperor.
Shell-shattered metal on tiny Ie
Shima frames a monument to a
famed war correspondent. Here
Ernie Pyle, who reported the trials
and triumphs of the ordinary GI in
World War II, was killed during the
fierce six-day battle for control of
the island's vital airfield. The plaque
reads: "At this spot the 77th Infan
try Division lost a buddy, Ernie
Pyle, 18 April 1945."
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